Everyday Roux and Bordeaux - Baked Apples & Fruit Mince

This recipe was provided by Michel Roux Jr to accompany a rosé from the Good Food Would Choose Bordeaux range from The Wine Society - personally, I would tend go for a sweet Sauternes with this, but the recipe looks delicious anyway.

Baked Apples with Fruit Mince

Baked apple is the simplest of desserts, but the addition of spice and dry fruits make this a dessert for a special occasion. Serve with a generous spoon of clotted cream or a good quality bought-in ice-cream.

Serves 6
Prep time 25 mins
Cook time 25 mins

Ingredients
Fruit mince
100g suet
120g light brown muscovado sugar
3 cooking apples peeled, cored and grated
80g sultanas
60g seedless raisins
100g dried prunes, stoned and chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
100g walnuts, almond and pistachios chopped (total weight)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
2 tbps brandy or dark rum

Baked apples
6 sweet dessert apples
100g unsalted butter
Icing sugar, sifted
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons brandy or dark rum

1. Mix all the fruit mix ingredients together.
2. Add spices to taste, for example you may like more cinnamon or even a little ground ginger.
3. Store in jars or an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week. It can, however, be kept for months.
4. Peel and core the apples.
5. Fill with the fruit mince, packing it tightly: there will be plenty, so pile it up to cover the top of the apples, and press down firmly.
6. Place the apples in a roasting tray with a knob of butter on each.
7. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar, and bake at 200C for 20 to 25 minutes, basting often with the cooking juices.
8. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Place the apples on warm plates.
9. Place the roasting tray on the stove-top over high heat. Add the lemon juice and brandy or rum and boil, whisking constantly, to make the caramel sauce strain through a sieve when syrupy.
10. Pour a little syrup around the apples.
11. Serve with muscovado ice cream.

Michel's Bordeaux Wine Pick: Château Bel Air Perponcher, Réserve 2012 (rosé) "I’ve selected a Bordeaux rosé for this dish as I feel the elegant, fruity complexity of the wine paired with the fruit and spice of this dessert will complement each other perfectly."

Image credit: http://www.stylenest.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Baked-Apples-Post.jpg